Blackhawks star Connor Bedard will have to wait a couple of more months to find out whether he’ll receive the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year.
On Tuesday, however, Bedard learned he’s officially one of three Calder finalists, as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
It’s a thoroughly unsurprising trio of finalists: Bedard, Wild defenseman Brock Faber and Devils defenseman Luke Hughes. The only question entering Tuesday was whether Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov might edge out Hughes for a finalist spot, but even that seemed unlikely.
The winner will be announced at the NHL Awards show in late June, usually right before the draft.
Bedard, 18, handily led all rookies this season in goals (22), assists (39), points (61), power-play points (21), shots on goal (206) and virtually every other offensive statistic. Points-wise, it was the fourth-best season by a Hawks teenager of all time, behind only Eddie Olczyk, Denis Savard and Patrick Kane.
Faber and Hughes tied for second among rookies with 47 points, but Faber’s argument for the Calder rests on his defensive strength and its contrast to Bedard’s defensive struggles.
Plus-minus is a flawed stat, but Faber was only a minus-one and Bedard a minus-44. For a time this spring, that disparity seemed to be giving real legs to Faber’s candidacy. But Faber’s play slipped down the stretch, and his analytics reflected that. Bedard now seems very likely to take home the award.
